


Struggling To Even Eat

by Unbothered_Arknight



Series: Sly Is A Fighter [2]
Category: Sly Cooper (Video Games)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety Attacks, But his friends are here, Crying, Dimitri smokes and not just cigarettes, Eating Disorders, Gen, Men Crying, Panic Attacks, Self-Esteem Issues, Sick Character, Sly is tired of fighting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:54:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28412715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unbothered_Arknight/pseuds/Unbothered_Arknight
Summary: Sly is a strong and unbreakable man. He is the person who brings smile, joy, strength.And yet, behind this mask is a raccoon about to fall and never get up again.When eating is getting too hard again, he loses hope and lets himself crumble in front of his friends, his family. He doesn't think he's going to make it this time. But he's not alone anymore. Bentley, Murray and the rest of the Gang are not going to let him go.OrSly no longer has the strength to fight a relapse, his body and mind collapse and his anxiety takes over.
Series: Sly Is A Fighter [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2083209
Kudos: 3





	1. Not Today

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, yes you read that right ! This is a Sly Cooper fanfiction with angst, hurt and comfort like how we all love 'em !
> 
> This takes place in a parallel universe where the end of Sly Cooper 3 happens as Bentley's plans had foreseen: The Cooper gang arrives in the Cooper vault and they come out without incident. No amnesia, no Sly Cooper 4. 
> 
> The clan now lives in Paris, The Panda King has returned to China and the Guru has decided to stay in Paris for a while but does not live with the Gang.
> 
> This is my first work, please don't hesitate to comment and review ! 
> 
> Enjoy

It's daylight, the sun has risen awhile ago now. The Safe House is silent, as if all the members of the Cooper Gang were asleep.

Bentley has been awake since 7:37 a.m. He had promised Murray not to go to bed too late last night, but it seems that the series he started watching around 9 p.m. on his computer contained much more than 13 episodes. An excuse which, in his opinion, was good.  
In fact, he fell asleep around 3:45 a.m. But it's alright, because he did worse. Way worse.

Speaking of Murray, he's not really sleeping either. He's still in his bed, yes. But he decided to sleep in a bit. After all, the heist they pulled off last night was more tiring than expected. 

He had to play the Uber driver for Sly because he "accidently" got lost in the other side of Paris when he had to run through streets he did not even know existed in order to escape the Inspector Fox. Sly didn't even know where he really was. That had surprised Murray, The coon never gets lost. 

In short, he DESERVES his break.

Dimitri was not at the Safe House today. He volunteered to go grocery shopping for the team this morning, he warned Bentley that he was going to take the opportunity to visit friends of his. But the turtle knew very well what that meant.

Dimitri, although he stopped drinking when he joined the Cooper Gang, still hasn't stopped smoking. But it wouldn't really bother Bentley if he only smoked cigarettes.

The lizard "visit" his friends so that he can buy "trees" for the week.

At least he doesn't smoke in the Safe House. Murray would kill him.

The pink hippopotamus hates the smell of smoke and is able to smell it from meters away.  
He also does not like the fact that Dimitri does not take care of his health, but he thinks that the lizard has already made some efforts so he is not going to complain.

Penelope left for Holland 3 days ago. Some of her family members still live in her childhood village and she has waited all year to see them again. The young mouse couldn't stop talking about it. She still takes the time to e-mail Bentley every night to update him.

Bentley can't help but smile every time the mouse's name appears in his inbox. It makes him happy to know that Penelope still thinks about them, even when she's supposed be to enjoying every second of her visit.

Sly hasn't given any sign of life since going to bed earlier that night. Usually, Sly is often the second person to be awake. 

But it seems that this day promises to be much harder than the others for the raccoon.

Sly woke up with a spinning head and cramped legs. This is not the first time he has woken up with cramps in his arms and legs. This is what happens when you don't take the time to stretch your muscles after having climbed a 3-story building in a panic. And he sincerely is beginning to regret having collapsed in his nest instead of stretching for at least 5 minutes.

But, at the moment, he didn't have the mindset to take care of himself.

He knew what was going on. It's happening again.

He recognized the symptoms. He noticed how hard it got to get up in the morning. To look at himself in the mirror. To smile without having to force it.

Eating became harder and harder, the nausea more and more violent with each meal.

He didn't want it to happen again. He doesn't want to fight, it's too much.

He wants to give in.


	2. A Bit Of Worry Doesn't Hurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You better listen to Murray : if he's worried about his friend, then you better worry too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a tad bit longer, Sly hasn't gotten out of bed yet and Dimitri decided to take his greasy sweet time outside.
> 
> Dimitri, Bentley wanted to have his oranges for breakfast...

I really have to stop embarking myself on a series that will cost me hours of sleep. I can feel the weight of my fatigue which seems to get heavier every hour, but I don't regret anything.

I stretch my back, in my movement it makes a cookie-like noise being broken into pieces and I laugh silently at my own joke. I hear Murray getting up from his bed down the hall, probably heading to the kitchen for breakfast. I unhooked the wheel of my wheelchair which was still stuck between the legs of the table and I walked towards the hallway.

I'm lucky that Sly moved all the stuff that could prevent me from moving around when we found this abandoned building. We had to move out quickly after we realized the police started patrolling closer and closer to our old Safe House. This usually meant that Interpol had finally found a lead to find our traces. I personally accuse the neighbors of accidentally seeing us prowling around.

Thanks to a personal friend of Sly, we were able to quickly find this place. I think if it wasn't for him, we'd be out on the streets. Not great.

When I got to the kitchen, I realized that Sly hadn't come to eat yet. He may still be asleep. It is very astonishing of him. With everything he did yesterday, he should be devouring all the chocolate buns at the table. He must be really tired.

Murray has already started to eat. He took out a half-empty box of cereal.

Well done Dimitri, if you get there fast enough with the grocery I might be able to have my oranges.

It's been 2 days since we ran out of fruits in the basket, Sly took the last banana as a snack just before the heist.

Murray took the opportunity to turn on the radio. He chose Pop music, I'm not surprised.

When my brother heard the brakes on my chair lock up, he looked up from the box of cereals he was reading, I think he was playing the maze game on it.

"Hey bud, I saved you some cereal!" Whispered the pink hippo.

"Thanks big guy. Judging by the way you're talking, our Master Criminal is still asleep." I whispered back as I took a bowl and filled it the rest of the cereals. I hope Dimitri is heading home right now because it is becoming really difficult to share food when you have a hippopotamus and an athletic raccoon to feed and there is hardly anything left.

"Yeah, I think he's still sleeping. When I walked past his room on my way here there was no light on you can usually see under his door, he must be busted to sleep like that ! " Murray half-screamed. It is not in the habit of the hippo to remain so quiet for so long, he has just given up the idea of not making noise.

Either way, the raccoon will soon surface in the living world. Otherwise I'll drag him out of bed myself, he can't afford to skip breakfast, we didn't even take the time to have a snack last night. Too worn out to care.

He must recover the energy he has spent, besides I wonder where he gets it really. Because in my opinion, he doesn't eat that much.

Especially these days, now that I think about it...

Did he really eat last night before he left? Damn, I should have been careful. I'm not even sure he consumed the banana.

I really have to get him out of bed, it's definitely not normal-

"Whoa Bentley, you're doing the face you usually do when you're thinking a lot, or when you're worried, I don't know... Anyway, are you okay?"

Ah, do I really make weird faces when I'm thinking or is Murray becoming too good at recognizing my emotions? He must have learned it from Sly, he's amazingly good at reading people. Sometimes it even scares me a bit.

"I think I'll go check if Sly is awake. Otherwise when he will show up in the kitchen, there will be nothing left to eat and Dimitri has apparently decided to make his escapade last."

Dimitri has always refused to live day and night with the rest of the team, although he is now a full member. He still spends a few days a week in the Safe House, but he will sleep at his house for the night and come back here in the morning just to tag with us.

Imperceptible, indeed.

"Aw man, Dimitri must be smoking with his friends! We're screwed, we won't even have an apple until tonight" Murray half chuckled as he throwing his hand over his head. Yep, I also have a presentiment that he's not going to come back for a while.

Why did I trust him on this one?

"But I mean, don't you think we should let him get some sleep? He looks... I dunno, drained. Like, sometimes I feel like he doesn't even sleep when he needs to. And... have you seen how he tends to space out too often? And he never finishes his plate anymore ! Bentley what if something was wrong and he's too scared to tell us ?!" The hippo cried out, his eyes now teary and red.

Murray matured a lot over time, a few years ago he was the guy who cried easily. But, seeing him worrying so much for his family to the point of tears made me realize the gravity of our brother's situation.

I looked at Murray with a broken gaze."I'm going to go see him, and we'll talk to him about his problems. We're going to help him no matter what, yes? It will be okay, don't worry." I answered him with a forced smile, it's going to be fine...

"Ok... let me know when you want to start this conversation with him..." Murray looks devastated. I can't look him in the eye anymore without feeling my own tears rise.

I turned around and started to wheel myself out the door to cross the dark hallway leading to the Gang's rooms. There was never any electricity in the hallway, but I haven't made the effort to install a generator yet. We already got into the habit of walking in the dark day and night through this corridor. We are thieves after all, we work at night.

Sly's bedroom is across from Murray's, at the back. My room is a little closer, right next to the bathroom. This apartment is not very big, in fact there were only 3 bedrooms when we arrived here a few weeks ago. Sly insisted on taking the large unused closet and making it his bedroom. When he realized that even a simple mattress did not fit in the closet, he decided to buy a hammock. He seems to enjoy sleeping in it, since he no longer sleeps on the sofa like he used to. It also helps relieve his back. He doesn't like to admit it, but his size and the posture he uses to execute his thieving moves gives him cramps. I have already offered to help him with his pain but I am under the impression that sometimes Sly has trouble asking for help, if not always. We will also have to address this problem.

As I arrive in front of his room, I notice that indeed, there is no light under the door. I absolutely have to wake him up, I can't leave him without eating even a little. I raised my fist and banged lightly on the door. Sly is a light sleeper and anything would wake him up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a chapter ! Sly's about to have one GREAT conversation with his two brothers, or
> 
> Or a bad time.


End file.
